June 9-12, I had the pleasure of visiting Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a special guest speaker at Truth and Destiny Covenant Ministries under the leadership of Reverend Lesley E. Jones. And I must say, God moved by His Spirit. I was so blessed by being there, I cannot even tell all the things that happened and how significant the change in my spirit is because of it.

The theme for the revival that week was "NO MORE CLOSETS: Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth". Every night was a powerful experience. The Word that God sent forth through each speaker was so relevant; I felt it necessary to share it with you.

The first night, Pastor Jones preached "No Closets". She revealed to us that a lot of times, people live in the closet because of deception. They have been told that they are vile, evil, unfit, nasty, unclean so they hide in the closet in hopes that no one will ever discover their "dirty little secrets". She drove home the point that it is NOT God's will for any of His children to live in the closet; under deception. Why? I'm glad you asked.

See lying to oneself or trying to live a lie period hinders your worship. Thus a hindrance to your relationship with God. Worship is a result of relationship. And if you deceived, you cannot truly worship God in spirit and in truth. The truth is, God loves you just as you are. He longs to have relationship with you. And the worship experience is such a loving and important spiritual experience that you shouldn't want that to be hindered by anything or anyone.

Pastor Jones allowed God to use her mightily. The ministry that has been given to her will soon rock the state of Ohio.

The second night, Bishop Darlene Franklin from Full Truth Ministries in Detroit Michigan was the speaker. And OH…MY…GOD!!! That woman of God wore us OUT! Even though the theme of the revival was "No More Closets", Bishop Franklin came with "Go Back In The Closet". It was POWERFUL!

She talked about how most of us who have come out of the closet are so proud and glad to be out that we have forgotten Who brought us out and Why He chose to do so. She even took us further with explaining the negative impact of deception without even knowing what Pastor Jones preached on the night before.

According to the text she took, Jesus was talking about prayer. And He said when you pray, don't use vain repetitions or make a big show of it as to bring attention to yourself. But instead, 'go into your closet and shut the door behind you, and the God you seek in secret will reward you openly'. So many of us have forgotten how to pray. We've come out of the closet and feel that prayer is unnecessary. God urged us through Bishop Franklin to GO BACK IN AND PRAY! If we go back into the closet to see private time with God in prayer, He will teach us how we should live OUT of the closet. He will show us what we need to do to advance the Kingdom and go to the next level in our lives.

I will be joining Bishop Franklin and Full Truth for their annual revival in September. I am SO looking forward to it.

The next day (Saturday) at the prayer breakfast, I was called upon to speak. I prayed that the Lord would use me in a mighty way to encourage His people. And it was a packed house! God spoke and people were blessed. In fact, the people who overheard us in the group meeting room were asking Pastor Jones about information on the church afterwards.

God informed us that the closet was never to be a place of hiding. The reason we have misused the closet is because we are ashamed and trying to hide something. In fact we do much like Adam did when God asked "why have you made clothes of leaves for yourself?" His response, "I heard you walking in the garden; I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself".

God's response to Adam in the beginning is what freed us in Cincinnati…God said "Who told you that you were naked?" He asked us, "Who told you you were evil?"

"Who told you I didn't love you?"
"Who told you I didn't want you?"
"Who told you that I was ashamed of you?"
"Who told you that you were vile and nasty?"
"Who told you you were less than everyone else?"

CERTAINLY NOT HIM! In fact, God told us that we are just as much His children as anyone else and THE ONLY reason we should be retreating to a closet is because we are going to have private time with Him. And if someone tells you you aren't going to Heaven or that God doesn't love you, ask em…."WHO TOLD YOU THAT?"

The next morning at Truth and Destiny, God challenged us once again. In fact, we had to deal with drama before church began. Not an hour before service started, I received a call that my grandfather wouldn't live through the day. He'd been struggling with cancer and the doctors had given him up. And then, immediately before church service Pastor Jones and I comforted a woman whose son had been killed the night before by his own cousin. God HAD to move that day. And before we went into service, Pastor Jones said "this is pasturing, are you ready for it?"

As emotionally spent as I was, I needed God to minister to His people. And he did. In fact, I was removed completely out of the picture. I need to get the tape to remember what I preached about, because I honestly don't remember. All I DO remember is sitting down afterward in tears, praying, hoping that God was pleased with me.

And from the reports I've received, people were blessed and God was pleased.

Once I receive the tapes of the services, I will make them available.

I just wanted you to know that God is doing a historic and wonderful work all over the country. He is using men and women in places we never thought of. I also wanted to encourage you that YOU are OPERATION: REBIRTH. All of us working together to put an end to religious persecution and spiritual violence is OPERATION: REBIRTH. Remember, the closet is not a hiding place. You should ONLY use it to pray; to get away from the world and seek the face and mind of God' to have quiet time with the lover of your soul.

Tuan N' Gai is the Dallas, Texas based author of "Will I Go To Heaven? The Black Gay Spiritual Dilemma," Founder of Biazo Ministries, and Co-Founder of OPERATION: REBIRTH. He can be reached at biazomin@yahoo.com.